In celebration of 55 years of Star Trek, in this episode, Janine Engelbrecht chats about all the amazing women in Star Trek. She discusses a few of her favorite characters, and explains what makes them progressive.
What’s in episode 30, “To the Women of Star Trek!”?
Welcome back
Janine welcomes listeners back and introduces the topic for today’s episode – a tribute to the women of Star Trek. The movie Janine recommends this week is Star Trek: First Contact, which is her favorite Star Trek film.
Lt. Uhura
The first woman Janine discusses is Lt Uhura, the first representation of a black woman in space. She explains the significance of this character and recounts a conversation Nichelle Nihols had with Martin Luther King.
Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation
Janine then mentions a few of the most significant female characters from Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation. She chats about Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax and the significance of their kiss.
Janine then lists Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi and what she likes about these two characters. Tasha Yar also makes it onto her list of important female characters.
The Borg Queen
The next character Janine explores is the Borg Queen and everything she likes about the character. Janine explains makes the Borg Queen transgressive and mulls over the fact that there are many Borg Queens.
Seven of Nine
On the topic of the Borg, Janine then chats about Seven of Nine from Voyager. Janine explores all the positive aspects of Seven despite her sexualized body.
As Janine explains, she loves Seven because she is such a complex character. Janine briefly also touches on Seven’s newly found romance with Raffi in Picard season 1.
Captain Kathryn Janeway
The next character is Janine’s all-time favorite character in sci-fi and Trek, Captain Janeway. Janine explains how Janeway is empowered in terms of second wave feminism and why she loves Janeway. She also expresses her excitement for Star Trek: Prodigy.
Michael Burnham
In this discussion, Janine draws some parallels between Lt. Uhura and Michael Burnham. Janine explores the significance of Michael Burnham and what makes her empowering.
Phillipa Georgiou
The final character Janine discusses is Phillipa Georgiou. She mentions a few other significant Asian characters in Star Trek and how Georgiou subverts stereotypes of Asian women.
Wrap up
Janine wraps up the episode by wishing everyone a happy 55 years of Star Trek. She also thanks listeners for supporting 30 episodes of The Sci-Fi Feminist podcast.
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